About this blog

This blog is about old trucks and any other historical matters that I feel like writing about. John and I have four old trucks, a 1976 N1025 Volvo, which John purchased new, a 1974 1418 Mercedes Benz, a 1989 Volvo 12 Intercooler and a 1973 F86 Volvo which is also known as 'the Bubble'. John is a Cartage Contractor and has driven and owned trucks for over 50 years.

About Me

I am the Local History Librarian at at Public Library Service in the south-east suburbs of Melbourne. I am also the President of the Koo-Wee-Rup Swamp Historical Society, the secretary of the South Eastern Historical Association and the Trafalgar Truck Restorers Club.

Sunday, March 24, 2013

William and Daisy Himbeck lived at Koo-Wee-Rup North or Five Mile. William's parents Edward and Elizabeth had selected the land in 1893, lived there until 1912 when they moved to Wonthaggi. After William's death in 1919, Elizabeth returned to the farm at Koo-Wee-Rup North with two grown-up children. William took over the farm, married local girl Daisy McKay, and supplemented his farm income by driving trucks, some of which are pictured below. William started a cream pick-up service with the cream going to the Dandenong Butter Factory; he collected the cream from Koo-Wee-Rup, Cardinia, Nar Nar Goon and Pakenham and surrounding areas. Sadly, the family did not recover from the losses sustained during the 1937 flood and they left the Koo-Wee-Rup North farm and moved to Dandenong, where William continued his cream round. Photographs and information supplied by Barry Himbeck.

This truck, above, and the one below were owned by William Himbeck after he moved to Dandenong in 1937.

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

The White Truck Muster is on this weekend, March 16 & 17 at Kyabram Show Grounds. Click here for more information from the HCVC forum. This event is open to any vehicle manufactured or marketed by White or White owned companies including White, Indiana, Reo, Autocar, Diamond T, Diamond Reo, Euclid, Western Star, White Steamer, Cletrac, Rollin, Oliver & Minneapolis-Moline. Other makes of vehicle are also welcome. More information - Ray Grima 03 5855 2615 / 0407 311 007.

In honour of the event, here is a random selection of photographs of White trucks, which we have taken at various shows.

Clark Mayze's White 9000.

Rollin White built his first steam car in 1901, under the Company name of the White Sewing Machine Company in Cleveland, Ohio. This Company was started by his father, Thomas Howard White in 1859. In 1906 the White Company was formed to build cars and trucks, and this was changed to White Motor Company in 1916. White continued to produce trucks until 1981 when it went into liquidation and was taken over by Volvo who used the White name was used on trucks until 1995. Rollin White left White in 1914 and founded the Cleveland Tractor Company (Cletrac).

Monday, March 4, 2013

We went to the Sale Vintage Tractor Club Rally at the Longford Recreation Reserve on Sunday, March 3. It was great weather, lots of people to talk to and some interesting vehicles.

Our two trucks - 1974 1418 Benz and the 1976 Volvo - we took the Benz up on the back of the Volvo on the Topstart trailer. Some-one told me they were the shiniest trucks he has ever seen, no credit to me, John does all the truck washing.

Here's a line-up of some of the trucks.

Neat J-model Bedford owned by Keith Seers.

Leigh Shield's 1945 Studebaker US6.

Bob Needham's 1964 EH Holden.

John Gramlick's 1961 Commer Knocker and 1970 Commer van.

Heather and Graham Cameron's Dodge and it's twin, below, owned by Andrew and Marion Main. According to Graham, their Dodge is a 1965 AT4 460, the Main's Dodge is also an AT4.

This is a 1917 Detroit Electric. It's quiet as a ghost, just glided in. These cars were produced from 1907 and the peak production was from around 1912 to 1920, when over 1,000 units were produced annually. From the early 1930s they were produced for orders only and the company was finished by 1942. According to my source, The complete encyclopedia of Motorcars, 1885 to the present, edited by G.N Georgano (Ebury Press, 1968) the cars were popular with women, who wanted a simple car for urban use. It is an amazing car and is part of the Gippsland Vehicle Collection, based at the Maffra Shed. www.gippslandvehiclecollection.org.au I had no idea they produced an electric car, so many years ago, and it's way more exciting looking than a Prius. Apparently the top speed is only about 32 kms per hour, so not a problem if you do the Monash Freeway in peak hour, but may be a bit slow the rest of the time!

This is an Essex, another American car, despite what the name suggests.They were produced by the Hudson Motor Car Company, in Detroit, from 1918 to 1932. In 1929, the Company sold over 300,000 cars, which equated to over six per cent of total car registrations in the United States that year.

Another set of twins - the 1949 Morris Commercial, above, belongs to John Burley and the one, below, to Neville Jackson.

We love this REO - Tony and Glenys Hackett, are the owners. It's a 1957 Gold Comet.

This is a Scania - owned by John Ziebell.

A Peter Stoitse Kenworth, now owned by his grandson. Peter Stoitse, the founder of the Company that bears his name, passed away in September 2012.

Coleman's G88 Volvo, and because it's a Volvo, here it is again, below, this time with their traction engine on the back.

A N12 Volvo - mid 1980s. Fans of Volvos would recognise that this one differs from our N10 Volvo in the following ways - this one has the European set back front axle thus the cabin is larger as has been extended to the rear and the bonnet and mudguard shape has also changed due to the set back axle. The fuel tanks have also changed shape - to round tanks.